Peridan of Narnia
by Bard of Beruna
Summary: Peridan- a name chances are most of you don't even recognize. A character with minimal coverage in the books, but arguably one of Narnia's great unsung heroes. But how was this remarkable man made? Where did he come from? What perils faced him from the beginning? And how did he overcome them all in Aslan's name?
1. Prologue

**AN:**

This is my first fanfic, so I would really appreciate reviews. Is it good? Bad? Do you have suggestions, questions or comments?

By the way I don't own Narnia or any of the characters you recognize. Those all belong either to Douglas Gresham or Walden Media. And the character of Perry-Dan belongs to a friend of mine, who said I could use it. And now, without further ado, I present to you the story of:

**Peridan of Narnia**

Manhattan, New York  
Summer 1935

Seven-year old Dan Perry ran down the streets of Manhattan. How he'd ever gotten this far, he didn't know. But here he was, a loaf of bread in his hand, being chased by an angry baker who thought he had stolen it.

Maybe he should have turned the other way, but there had been no time to think. Presently he dived under a pushcart to hide and breath. Oh, his mother would have had such a fit if she saw him as dirty as he got these days. But both his parents had died nearly a year ago of food poisoning. In fact, he had been the only one in his family that escaped it, because he was down with the flu and wouldn't eat. And then the landlord had kicked him out because he couldn't pay rent.

After a big truck went by, he crawled out from his hiding place. The baker was nowhere in sight, so he started to make his way back to his bridge, where he slept, ate, and made a base of operations. The sun was going down now, and soon it would be dark, but he couldn't go anywhere else, for he didn't know Manhattan's streets or their people. He felt much safer at his bridge in the Bronx, and he knew several people there that were friendly to the orphans and sometimes even shared their food.

The Hudson River seemed unusually silent as he flew across the bridge to the Bronx. That said, it was getting late, and most of the boatmen were probably gone home for the night. He was exhausted after being chased around the city, and slowed down almost to a drag. And then, he blinked, and before he knew it he was falling down a sewer hole.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: **Well, here I am, writing another chapter. As always, I don't own Narnia or any of the characters you recognize. Or Perry-Dan.

Also there are 22 views and no reviews. Please change that, if only to tell me you hate it. Seriously though, refer to the AN from last chapter.

Here's Chapter Two: In Which Dan Arrives in Narnia, and a Name is Found for him. Read on!

Dan was falling, falling, falling for what must have been ten minutes. When he hit bottom it didn't seem anything like the sewer tunnels he remembered, for instead of seeing pipes suspended in the air and pools of water from condensation, and no life but bugs, rats and what mold and algae could grow in the nearly complete darkness, he felt the shocking impact of a hard earth floor, heard the resounding smack of his shoes thereon, and became aware that he was in some sort of a closet or cellar. It was much colder than New York should have been in the summer, and at least in that room, entirely dark.

He didn't know what else to do, so he started feeling around for a door. At first, he came upon a shelf stocked with a meager supply of mushrooms and carrots, and then three bows, each about three feet long. Finally he discovered the door, which had no handle.

"It's just my luck," he muttered. "I suppose nothing will ever go right for me. It never did anyway." And then he sharply rebuked himself, for everything used to go well for him, all up till his whole family died. And after that- well, after that it all changed. But if he were honest with himself, his life was probably a lot better than that of an average orphan. Not that that was saying much, but he was alive and well, and not stuck in the charge of some grumpy old governess who cared less than anything how the children felt.

Someone obviously lived here, although he didn't hear them. Maybe the person who lived here worked late or went out to eat. But just to make sure they heard him if they were here, he banged on that door with both his fists and all his might. And just as he was about to give up, it flew open, and outside it stood a short, stocky man with a red beard nearly bigger than his belly.

"Bricklethumb," the man asked, not bothering to see who Dan actually was, "Have you managed to get yourself locked in the closet again?"

When Dan didn't answer, the figure looked closer, and then exclaimed, "Lion's mane, you're not Bricklethumb. Why, I do believe you're- well, you certainly look like... a human!"

"'Course I'm a human," Dan replied. "Aren't you a human too?

Without giving an answer, the red man hollered, "Rogin! Brickl;ethumb! Get over here and see what I've found!"

At this two more people appeared, one carrying a satchel and another wielding a short sword. "What is it, Duffle," asked the first. "Have I left my bow strung?"

"Oh, it's nothing of the sort, Rogin," the one who had found him replied. "I've found a human! Right here in our closet!"

"But Duffle," the one who by elimination had to be Bricklethumb remarked, "You know they're illegal. One can't allow those creatures to stay in his house, lest he be arrested- mayhap even turned to stone!"

At this point Dan interrupted. "Why do you keep saying about humans? Aren't you human yourselves?"

"Humans!" The one with the satchel snorted. "Ain't nobody's seen a human in Narnia since before I was born. And if they have, they either kill them on the spot or turn them in to the witch-queen, Jadis. It's by her order they've been chased out and killed off, for she fears if four of them should turn up, her reign would be over and done in a moment. It would too, for that's the prophecy a centaur made before even her reign began."

"So what are you?"

"What are we? Each of us is a full-blooded Narnian Red Dwarf. And we're also the resistance. Who might you be?"

Dan didn't want to reveal his identity to three strangers, so he mixed his name up a bit. "You may call me... Peridan."

"And a fine name it is. Now come, Peridan, and we'll get you something to warm you up."


	3. Chapter 2

**AN:**

Guys thanks all of you for your gracious reviews!

Thunderbird shadow, I appreciate it. I wasn't actually upset. Well, not mostly anyway. I'm glad you have found it enjoyable, for which I am not to thank.

Glestorm63, thank you too. I wanted to have him meet someone about his size or smaller, who for the reduction of shock factor was not a beast and, per canon, was not Tumnus. The three dwarfs fit the bill well and I hope you will enjoy seeing their part in Peridan's story.

As usual, I don't own Narnia. Aslan does and always will.

And before I bore you all to death with this terribly long author's note, I'd best get to the introduction.

I present to you Chapter Two, in which Peridan is Educated on the Current Situation.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Someone was shouting- of this Dan was sure. Was it the baker again? When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a short bed in a small room that the dwarf Duffle had simply introduced to him as "a place for you to stay, for so long as it takes for us to decide what to do with you."

The shouting came again. This time, as he listened against the low door of the room, he could make out words. "Duffle! Rogin! Bricklethumb! Is anyone awake?"

By this time one of the dwarfs- Bricklethumb by the way he walked- had come to the door. After a long pause, he opened the door, allowing the guest- and the weather- inside.

"Ah, Bricklethumb, it's good to see your place again. Is Duffle home? A friend of his had a message for him."

As the guest was talking, Duffle came into the room. "I'm here, alright. Who is it and what message would he tell me?"

"I shan't tell you out here in the public room. If we could retreat further in, that would be expedient."

And so the three went to a room just beyond Peridan's, and talked in hushed tones such that he could only just hear the words, and sometimes wasn't even sure of that.

The stranger lost no time in giving the news. "The faun, Cordatus, went down sick again. He asked me to give you this slip of paper with the announcements and agenda for our meeting this afternoon. I'm sorry it's on such short notice, but that's how the influenza goes and we've got to have a meeting one way or another."

"That we do." Duffle replied, and after a few seconds remarked, "I do think one announcement ought to be made that is not written down here."

"What might that be?"

And after this, they all spoke so quietly, and yet with so much excitement, that Peridan could not so much as guess what their subject might be.

Suddenly, a fast knock came at his door. Peridan opened it and to his astonishment saw not another dwarf but a Beaver with Duffle, Rogin and Bricklethumb. His brain was bursting with questions right now, but he couldn't ask any of them because the dwarfs and beaver were doing all the talking.

"This here's the human," Rogin declared. "His name's Peridan. Look and see for yourself, Beaver- there's nought else he can be."

"Yes, he's a Son of Adam alright; there's to be no doubt about it. How did you find him?"

"Well," Duffle began, "There was a banging in the closet, and I thought Bricklethumb had locked himself in there again, but when I opened it, it was a boy of not more than eight years, and yet taller than me."

At this point, Peridan wanted to speak for himself. "I was running through the streets last night, just after the sun went down, and I didn't look where I was going and got swallowed up in a hole and wound up in this closet. And now they're telling me it's illegal to be a human. What is this place? Why can't I just be here? And how come the animals talk?"

"Duffle," the beaver began, "Have you told him nothing?"

Rogin stood in for him. "We didn't tell him anything he didn't need to know. And you know at least twice what I could tell him of our history. Why don't you educate him?"

And so the beaver did.

"The first thing I suppose I ought to tell you is that this is the land of Narnia. Aslan, the great Lion and Son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, sang its creation at the dawn of time, nearly a thousand years ago. The first thing He did when He was done is He selected a pair of almost every kind of animal, and gave them the gift of speech and knowledge and reason. And then he held a great council with several of them, to debrief them on an important matter."

"Now the Animals, dwarfs, nymphs, giants and those who were half-man were not the only people in Narnia, for at the very dawn of time, a small party from another world arrived in Narnia. This party included a boy, a girl, two men, and a horse from that world, but also a witch that had been queen of yet another world. And Aslan knew that she wanted nothing more than to rule His land, and to enslave all its inhabitants. So Aslan sent the boy, the girl, and the horse, whom He gave wings, to take an apple from a tree in a garden He had set far away in the mountains. When they brought it back, He planted it, and it grew into a tree that would protect Narnia for as long as it lived. But its life would not last forever, and the witch had stolen another of those apples, which gave her immortality. So as soon as the tree was blown down in a terrible storm, she was upon Narnia. She killed the Queen, Swanwhite, and set up her own rule over all of Narnia. She enchanted it so that it would always be winter, but never Christmas, and she's kept Narnia under her evil white thumb now for eighty-five years."

"But why doesn't she want any humans around? I don't see what she can have against us. And isn't she human herself?"

"Hah, human? She'd have us believe it, and she uses that lie to justify her claim to the throne. But she's no daughter of Eve. No, Peridan, she's half giantess, and half Jinn. As to what she's got against you, she's scared, afraid for her life if she hears of humans. For there are several prophesies that say that she'll find her end when humans come around:

_When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone  
__Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,  
__The evil time will be over and done._

"And there's another that says,

_And when I have filled the thrones at Cair Paravel, with two Sons of Adam, and with two Daughters of Eve, even this shall be a testimony unto you, that the rule of the witch Jadis is over: yea, and her life also._

"And so you see, Peridan, that she can't go about letting any humans into her realm, for she knows that those prophesies must be fulfilled."

"Do you mean," Peridan then asked, "to say that I am to be one of those four kings and queens? Because I can't possibly do that. I'm just an orphan from the Bronx"

Mr. Beaver chuckled, and said, "I'll not claim to know everything, Peridan. I think if Aslan meant for you to be one of His four monarchs, that He would have brought the other three with you. But then again He may, and even if He does not, He would not have brought you here without a purpose."


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:** Hello again! I'm sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I shan't tell you how much of the delay was because I've been ridiculously busy and how much was because of that detestable writer's block, but they both factored in. Hopefully this chapter will be a bit more legible now that I've figured out the "Horizontal line" feature.

* * *

Maybe that was overkill. But here's chapter three: **The Council at Beaversdam.**

* * *

After Mr. Beaver was done telling him the history and wonders of Narnia, Peridan began to be very hungry. They had not yet eaten breakfast when the Beaver came, and by now it was nearly nine o'clock. Thankfully Bricklethumb had slipped away from the conversation to fry some eggs, and just then his voice came from the front of the house.

"Breakfast is getting cold, brothers and friends. You'll want to come and have a bite before we leave."

"Where are we going," Peridan asked Duffle.

"Why to Beaver's dam, of course. For the meeting, you know."

"What's this meeting about, anyway?"

"It's a resistance meeting. All of us will be there- Myself, Mister Beaver you see here, and all the other resistance leaders within ten mile or so of his home. There's maybe twenty of us that meet once or more every month. Last time, we decided the next meeting would be on the twenty-third of August (that's today), at Mr. Beaver's dam. And today, you and the others ought to come with us, since you're very important news. We'll be deciding what to do with you there, but you've got to eat something first"

And Peridan, the Beaver, and Rogin and Duffle sat down at the table, but Bricklethumb insisted on making sure Peridan's cup remained full of milk, the Beaver's of beer, and his brothers' of strong black coffee. It was a pleasant meal, consisting mainly of meat, eggs, and what vegetables could be grown in the deep winter, although there were a few nicer things that had been imported from Archenland. Finally Duffle convinced him to sit down and eat, and they told stories of the old days: stories of King Gale the Dragonslayer, and of Moonbow the Hare, of the beautiful Queen Swanwhite and of King Frank the Fifth. Peridan also told stories of his world, of the giant Paul Bunyan, of Thomas Jefferson, whom he explained was "kind of like a king, only the people chose him and he only served for eight years", and of a Sergeant Alvin York, who had single-handedly defeated at least twenty men in a big war some fifteen or twenty years ago.

Finally everyone had eaten their fill, so the dwarfs drew lots to determine who should wash the dishes, and Duffle was the unlucky one. So he set off to work, and the others did what they could to set the rest of the house at order. By ten o'clock they were all done, and so they packed five bags and began the journey to Mr. Beaver's dam. This was the first Peridan had been outside of the small house, and he was astonished by the weather, for though in New York it was summer, here, on what should have been the hottest day of summer, snow covered the ground in a layer at least a foot deep. But Rogin explained, "It's all part of _her_ curse, that," and they kept on going.

It was about noon by the time the ground started sloping very sharply down, and the trees thinned out till eventually there were none. And a minute later, they all stood at the edge of a fairly wide river. There was a dam here, and you could tell the water had been frozen in an instant, for on one side the ice was quite smooth, but on the other, it was frozen in the act of falling over the dam, so that there were long icicles hanging down from it, and sticking out from its wall, and standing up from the water below, and all the water that had been hanging along in midair when the freeze came was lying on top of the river on the lower side of the dam. About halfway across this dam was a small house, or (as might be supposed) the small entrance to a much larger house. And the Beaver declared, "here we are! My wife's made provision for all the resistance to eat a meal or two here, so make yourself at home for awhile until we begin our meeting."

By this time several people had arrived, so that there were two rabbits, a Centaur, a Bear, a faun, and five Dwarfs (including the three with whom Peridan came) assembled on top of the frozen pond. Mrs. Beaver called them in to eat, and so they did, and over the next hour more and more strange people arrived, until at last there were well over a dozen. And now Mr. Beaver silenced them and motioned for Duffle to speak.

"As you may know," Duffle began, "Our friend Cordatus is sick today and could not be present at this meeting. I cannot come close to his expertise in conducting business, but I shall make an attempt. It appears the first matter on our agenda is the election of a representative to go to the next Annual Narnian Resistance Council. Do I have any nominees?"

And so business went on, with Duffle conducting announcements and elections and more things until it was nearly sunset, and then he finally announced the last matter of business. This was the question of what to do with Peridan, and so he was taken up where everybody could see him and argue about him. It didn't seem he had much say in it, but they eventually decided he was to g to some place called "Archenland" until it was safe for him to return to Narnia. Whether they wanted him to be a king or not he couldn't tell, but as long as he kept his head he didn't care at this point.


End file.
